Apparatuses, Methods, and Software for Secure Short-Range Wireless Communication

ABSTRACT

Apparatuses that provide for secure wireless communications between wireless devices under cover of one or more jamming signals. Each such apparatus includes at least one data antenna and at least one jamming antenna. During secure-communications operations, the apparatus transmits a data signal containing desired data via the at least one data antenna while also at least partially simultaneously transmitting a jamming signal via the at least one jamming antenna. When a target antenna of a target device is in close proximity to the data antenna and is closer to the data antenna than to the jamming antenna, the target device can successfully receive the desired data contained in the data signal because the data signal is sufficiently stronger than the jamming signal within a finite secure-communications envelope due to the Inverse Square Law of signal propagation. Various related methods and machine-executable instructions are also disclosed.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/554,867, filed on Sep. 6, 2017, andtitled “SECURE SHORT-RANGE INFORMATION EXCHANGE”, which is incorporatedby reference herein in its entirety.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

This invention was made with government support under CNS1329686 awardedby the National Science Foundation. The government has certain rights inthe invention.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the field of secure wirelesscommunication. In particular, the present invention is directed toapparatuses, methods, and software for secure short-range wirelesscommunication.

BACKGROUND

Analysts predict billions of everyday devices will soon become “smart”with the addition of wireless communication capabilities. If thesepredictions are even close to accurate, there will soon be more thanfour Internet of Things (IoT) devices for every person on the planet.Some of the growth in the number of connected devices is expected tocome from simply adding short-range radios using wireless protocols,such as WI-FI®, BLUETOOTH®, and ZIGBEE® protocols, to devices thatalready have some computational capabilities but presently lackcommunication abilities. Another source of growth is from objects thathave historically had no processing capabilities but are expected togain both computing and connectivity abilities—devices like thermostats,toys, jewelry, kitchenware, and farm equipment, to name a few.

These devices are envisioned to share data and control information amongthemselves, with new devices entering and exiting a particularenvironment frequently. People and the devices they wear or carry mayencounter dozens, possibly hundreds, of other devices each day. Many ofthese devices encountered will be seen for the first time. Additionally,some of the information the devices share may be privacy sensitive orhave security implications.

Today, cryptography is commonly used to ensure this data is protectedwhen it is exchanged between devices. To configure these devices forcryptography, a secret key is often manually entered on each device.Manually configuring a large number of devices for ad hoc communicationsis impractical in a world where each device may encounter dozens orhundreds of new devices each day. Furthermore, many of these new IoTdevices will have limited or non-existent user interfaces, making thismanual secret entry even more cumbersome than configuring existingdevices. This situation implies that devices that have never met, norshared a secret, but that are in physical proximity, must somehow have away to securely communicate that requires minimal manual interventionand yet captures user intent.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In one implementation, the present disclosure is directed to anapparatus for wirelessly transmitting data to a target device. Theapparatus includes a first antenna; a second antenna positioned a firstfixed spacing from the first antenna; a first transmitter in operativecommunication with the first antenna; a second transmitter in operativecommunication with the second antenna; at least one processor inoperative communication with each of the first transmitter and thesecond transmitter; and a memory containing machine-executableinstructions for controlling each of the first and second transmitters,wherein the machine-executable instructions include instructions forcontrolling the at least one processor so as to cause the firsttransmitter to transmit via the first antenna a data signal containingthe data; and cause the second transmitter to transmit via the secondantenna a jamming signal while the first transmitter is transmitting thedata signal.

In another implementation, the present disclosure is directed to amethod of wirelessly transmitting data to a target device having atarget antenna. The method includes receiving an indication to begin asecure-communications process. In response to receiving the indicationto begin the secure-communications process, transmitting a data signalcontaining the data via a first antenna located proximate to the targetantenna, and simultaneously with the transmitting of the data to thetarget device, transmitting a jamming signal via a second antennalocated distal from the target antenna.

In yet another implementation, the present disclosure is directed to amemory containing machine-executable instructions for performing amethod of wirelessly transmitting data to a target device having atarget antenna. The method includes receiving an indication to begin asecure-communications process. In response to receiving the indicationto begin the secure-communications process, transmitting a data signalcontaining the data via a first antenna located proximate to the targetantenna, and simultaneously with the transmitting of the data to thetarget device, transmitting a jamming signal via a second antennalocated distal from the target antenna.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, the drawings show aspectsof one or more embodiments of the invention. However, it should beunderstood that the present invention is not limited to the precisearrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a graph of expected average power density versus distance fora receiving antenna spaced from two transmitting antennas, each sendinga 24 dBm signal, with antenna A₁ located a distance d₁ cm from thereceiving antenna and antenna A₂ located d₂=d₁+λ/2 from the receivingantenna;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example data-jam device and an example targetdevice, illustrating an example geometry of interaction between thedata-jam and target devices;

FIG. 3 is a constellation diagram, with the dots representing symbols inthe complex plane;

FIG. 4 contains a pair of graphs of energy per bit versus noise at closerange for a modeled data-jam apparatus for jamming power being equal tothe data-transmission power (left-hand graph) and for jamming powerbeing 2.5 times greater (4 dBm) than the data-transmission power(right-hand graph);

FIG. 5 contains a pair of graphs of the probability of symbol error fora modeled data-jam apparatus for jamming power being equal to thedata-transmission power (left-hand graph) and for jamming power being2.5 times greater (4 dBm) than the data-transmission power (right-handgraph);

FIG. 6 contains a pair of graphs of probability a frame is receivedwithout error, given a 1,024-bit frame, for a modeled data-jam apparatusfor jamming power being equal to the data-transmission power (left-handgraph) and for jamming power being 2.5 times greater (4 dBm) than thedata-transmission power (right-hand graph);

FIG. 7 is a graph of frame reception ratio for 1,000 packets sent oneach MCS for an instantiation of data-jam apparatus;

FIG. 8 is a graph of normalized frame reception ratio for 1,000 packetssent on each MCS when P_(j)=4 dBm;

FIG. 9 is a graph of normalized frame reception ratio for 1,000 packetssent with BPSK 1/2 when P_(j)=8 dBm;

FIG. 10 is a graph of normalized frame reception ratio for 1,000 packetssent on each MCS when P_(j)=4 dBm;

FIG. 11 is a graph of normalized frame reception ratio for 1,000 packetssent on each MCS when P_(j)=8 dBm;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an adversary attempting to eavesdropon a data-jam apparatus having a 7 cm antenna spacing using adirectional antenna;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating Channel Rank for a transmitting devicehaving two antennas and a receiving device having two antennas for adata-jam eavesdropping scenario;

FIG. 14 is a partial high-level block diagram/partial schematic diagramillustrating a scenario involving secure short-range wirelesscommunication between a data-jam apparatus and a target device;

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method of wirelesslytransmitting data to a target device in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure; and

FIG. 16 is a high-level diagram illustrating an example handhelddata-jam device in close proximity to a target device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 1. Introduction

In some aspects, the present disclosure is directed to various“data-jam” apparatuses that provide for secure short-range wirelesscommunication between themselves and at least one target device. Each ofthese data-jam apparatuses may use radios that utilize any one or moreof short-range wireless communication protocols, such as WI-FI®,BLUETOOTH®, and ZIGBEE® protocols, among others, and that may, forexample, operate using any suitable standard, such as any IEEE 802.11 orIEEE 802.15 standard, among others. As will become apparent afterreading this entire disclosure, each data-jam apparatus can be embodiedinto any one of a wide variety of devices including, but not limited to,wearable “smart” devices (e.g., smartwatches, fitness trackers, smartjewelry, wearable computers, augmented reality gear, virtual realitygear, etc.), smart appliances (e.g., kitchen and other household andcommercial appliances, etc.), personal computers (e.g., laptopcomputers, tablet computers, and desktop computers) smartphones,wireless security devices (e.g., cameras, smart locks, etc.), smartcontrols (e.g., smart thermostats, smart lighting controllers, etc.),wireless routers, and data-jam device, among many other devices. As willalso become apparent after reading this entire disclosure, a targetdevice can also be any of a wide variety of devices, including, but notlimited to, wearable “smart” devices (e.g., smartwatches, fitnesstrackers, smart jewelry, wearable computers, augmented reality gear,virtual reality gear, etc.), smart appliances (e.g., kitchen and otherhousehold and commercial appliances, etc.), personal computers (e.g.,laptop computers, tablet computers, and desktop computers) smartphones,wireless security devices (e.g., cameras, smart locks, etc.), smartcontrols (e.g., smart thermostats, lighting controllers, etc.), andsmart sensors (e.g., temperature sensors, optical sensors, motionsensors, etc.), among many other devices.

In the context of the present disclosure, the term “data-jam” refers toan important characteristic of apparatuses and devices of the presentdisclosure that participate in providing the secure short-range wirelesscommunication, namely the simultaneous transmission of both at least onedata signal, which contains data to be communicated to one or moretarget devices, and at least one jamming signal. As described below indetail, the apparatuses and methods of the present disclosure exploitthe property that radio waves attenuate as they travel through a mediumproportionally with the square of the distance between the transmitterand receiver.

Briefly, a data-jam apparatus of the present disclosure utilizes two ormore spaced apart, but relatively close, antennas, with at least one ofthe antennas transmitting a data signal and at least one other of theantennas simultaneously transmitting a jamming signal. By placing atarget device, or more precisely, a receiving antenna aboard the targetdevice, in close proximity to the data-signal-transmitting antenna butdistally from the jamming-signal-transmitting antenna, the receivingdevice can retrieve the data despite the presence of the jamming signal,because the data signal carrying the data is multiple-times strongerthan the jamming signal. In contrast, for wireless devices located moredistally from the multiple antennas, both the data and jamming signalshave roughly the same power, making recovery of the data from thenoise-laden combined signal extremely difficult. In this connection, itis noted that the term “secure” when used in connection with the type ofcommunication afforded by data-jam apparatuses of the present disclosuredoes not need to be absolute security but rather an enhanced level ofsecurity over “normal” unjammed communications links. That said,data-jam apparatuses made in accordance with the present disclosureenable quite secure communication relative to both 1) wireless devicesthat may be located more distally from a data-jam apparatus than atarget device and 2) eavesdroppers using directional antennas directedtoward the multiple antennas of the data-jam apparatus. Details of theoperating principles of secure data-jam communications are describedbelow.

As noted above, in many instances a data-jam apparatus and a targetdevice can be embodied in the same type of device. For example, asmartwatch can be a data-jam apparatus or it can be a target device, orit can be both. However, to be a data-jam apparatus, it needs at leasttwo antennas, at least one for transmitting a data signal and at leastone other for simultaneously transmitting a jamming signal. In addition,the antennas transmitting those two types of signals must be spacedapart by at least a minimum distance. With some devices, adding a secondantenna and a second transmitter may not be economical, and with somedevices, physical constraints will not allow multiple antennas to bespaced far enough apart for the data-jam operating principles to workeffectively. In such cases, the devices can be only target devices.Otherwise, most any wireless device can be made to function as adata-jam apparatus. Importantly, it is noted that a target device neednot ever have communicated with the data-jam device at issue, though insome embodiments it could have. Indeed, the target device does not evenhave to know that a data-jam apparatus is even transmitting a jammingsignal. Because of the greater strength of the data signal, it simplyreceives the data in the presence of the lower-power noise from thejamming signal.

In some aspects, the present disclosure is also directed to methods andsoftware for effecting secure communications using data-jam operatingprinciples disclosed herein. Such methods include methods of controllingdata-jam functionality of a data-jam apparatus. Data-jam apparatuses canimplement these methods using machine-executable instructions thatperform these methods. Other methods include methods of effecting secureclose-range communication and methods of directing a user to permitsecure close-range communication. These methods can be fully orpartially implemented using machine-executable instructions executed bya target device or a data-jam apparatus or both. Details regarding theseand other methods are described below.

A data-jam apparatus may be used, for example, to transfer confidential(e.g., non-cryptographic data) or secret data (e.g., cryptographic datasuch as a cryptographic key) under cover of signal jamming when thedata-jam apparatus and a target device are in close proximity with oneanother. Example uses of a data-jam apparatus made in accordance withthe present disclosure abound. Such uses include transferringconfidential data, such as medical data, from a smart health-monitoringdevice to a target device, such as a secure computer. If the smarthealth-monitoring device functions as the data-jam apparatus, it cansend the confidential data to the target device under jamming cover. Inthis case, the smart health-monitoring device need not establish anotherwise secure connection, such as a cryptographic connection, and thesmart health-monitoring device need not ever had communicated with oneanother. On the other hand, if the smart health-monitoring device is thetarget device and does not have data-jam capabilities, the other device,e.g., a secure computer, acts as the data-jam apparatus and the smarthealth-monitoring device will receive the confidential data. In thiscase, the data-jam apparatus may securely transmit a secret key or otherdata for establishing a secure two-way communications link between thedata-jam apparatus and the smart health-monitoring device. Once thatsecure two-way communications link has been established, the smarthealth-monitoring device can securely transmit the confidential data tothe data-jam apparatus.

The preceding health-data-transfer examples are merely two basicexamples of how secure data-jam communications of the present disclosurecan be used. There are many situations where secure data transfer orexchange is desirable. Uses that may become ubiquitous are the initialpairing of devices that have never communicated with one another beforea data-jam interaction and the adding of a new device to a securenetwork. These uses are desirable because the data-jam functionality canbe used to permit automatic paring and automatic adding, therebyeliminating the need for user interaction other than bringing thedata-jam apparatus and target device into close proximity with oneanother to effect the secure data-jam communication. In this connection,it is recognized that in many cases both of the data-jam apparatus andtarget device are not practically portable or are not configured to bemoved into sufficiently close proximity to one another. As a simple,non-limiting example, a smart refrigerator and a WI-FI® router typicallycannot readily be moved in close proximity with one another. In such acase, an intermediary device, such as a mobile data-jam wand (see below)or other mobile data-jam apparatus, can be used to effect the adding ofthe smart refrigerator to the WI-FI® router's secure network. Forexample, a user could place the data-jam antennas of the mobile data-jamapparatus close to the antenna(s) of the smart refrigerator and orientthe data-jam antennas properly so as to effect the secure transfer ofthe data needed to connect the smart refrigerator to the secure network.This is but one of many pairing or adding scenarios wherein a data-jamapparatus of the present disclosure is useful.

Depending on the device enabled to provide data-jam functionality of thepresent disclosure, no hardware modification may be needed. As long asthe device has at least two sufficiently spaced-apart antennas (as isnecessary on wireless devices employing beamforming technology) and cansimultaneously transmit a data signal and a jamming signal via themultiple antennas, the only change typically needed is to the softwareor firmware, i.e., the set of machine-executable instructions, thatcontrols the transmitters of the device. An example of a device thattypically does not need any hardware modification is a commercialoff-the-shelf (COTS) WI-FI® router utilizing multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) technology.

On the other hand, if it is desired to add data-jam functionality to awireless device that traditionally does not include multiple antennasand transmitters or the multiple antennas are not sufficiently spaced,hardware modifications will be necessary. For example, a singleantenna/single transmitter smartwatch could be (re)designed to includetwo antennas and two corresponding transmitters. To obtain the neededantenna spacing, for example, one antenna could be placed in the case ofthe smartwatch and the other antenna could be placed in the wristband inthe clasp region. Other locations could be used in the alternative.Devices having only a single antenna, however, can still be targetdevices.

2. Operating Principles

The approach of the present disclosure to overcoming jamming for devicesin close physical proximity to one another relies on the fact that radiowaves attenuate proportionally with the distance the signal travels. Theinsight for the data-jam methodology is that when the transmitter andreceiver are in close physical proximity, the data signal from thenearby data-transmitting antenna can be sufficiently stronger than thejamming signal from the farther jamming antenna such that the receivercan recover the data signal, while a more distant adversary cannot. Whena receiving antenna is extremely close to the transmitting antenna, thereceiving antenna is said to be in the “near field” of the transmittingantenna. At longer range, the receiver is said to be in the “far field”(also called the “Fraunhofer region”).

The boundary between the near and far field for a finite-lengthtransmitting dipole antenna is estimated at distance d from the antennaas follows:

$\begin{matrix}{d = \frac{2D^{2}}{\lambda}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

wherein D is the length of the transmitting antenna plus the length ofthe receiving antenna, and λ is the signal wavelength. As an example,Equation (1) projects that the far field for quarter-wavelength antennasat the 2.4 GHz band of a WI-FI® device begins at roughly 6.2 cm and isas short as 3.1 cm for the 5 GHz band. (Some sources suggest the farfield for short antennas (where D<<λ) are best approximated by d=π/2λ,which yields distances of 1.9 cm and 0.8 cm for the 2.4 and 5 GHz bandsrespectively.) The boundary is not sharp, but instead transitionsgradually between the near and far fields.

In the far field, radio waves attenuate proportionally to the square ofthe distance between the transmitter and receiver. This signalpropagation relationship is captured in the far field by the well-knownFriis transmission model:

$\begin{matrix}{P_{r} = {P_{t}G_{t}{G_{r}( \frac{\lambda}{4,{\tau d}} )}^{2}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

wherein P_(r) is the power at the receiving antenna in milliwatts, P_(t)is the power transmitted, G_(t) is the gain of the transmitting antenna,G_(r) is the gain of the receiving antenna, λ is the wavelength of thesignal, and d is the distance between the transmitting and receivingantennas. From Equation (2) it is clear that if the distance, d, betweentransmitter and receiver is reduced by one-half, then the received poweris increased by a factor of four.

Equation (1) provides an estimate for the boundary between the near andfar field, but in reality the boundary is not sharply defined. Instead,the electric E and magnetic H fields generated by a transmitting antennabegin to align more fully so that they are orthogonal (perpendicular) toeach other, transverse to the radial direction of propagation, as thesignal moves substantially into the far field.

Because the boundary is not sharp and the data-jam protocol is designedfor communications between devices separated by approximately theestimated distance from Equation (1), Equation (2) cannot be simply usedto estimate signal strength at the receiver, because Equation (2) isonly valid in the far field.

Known approximations for the E and H fields show that they are valideverywhere, except on the surface of the antenna, for a thin-wire(radius r<<l) finite-length dipole:

$\begin{matrix}{E \simeq {j\eta {\frac{I_{0}e^{- {jkd}}}{2\pi d}\lbrack \frac{{\cos ( {\frac{kl}{2}\cos \theta} )} - {\cos ( \frac{kl}{2} )}}{\sin \; \theta} \rbrack}}} & (3) \\{H \simeq {j{\frac{I_{0}e^{{- j}kd}}{2\pi d}\lbrack \frac{{\cos ( {\frac{kl}{2}\cos \theta} )} - {\cos ( \frac{kl}{2} )}}{\sin \theta} \rbrack}}} & (4)\end{matrix}$

wherein j=√−1, η=120π is the intrinsic impedance of free space, I₀ isthe current applied to the transmitter, k=2π/λ is the wavenumber, d isthe distance from the transmitting antenna, and θ is the vertical anglebetween the transmitter and receiver (below we assume θ=π/4 indicatingthe two antennas are vertically aligned).

Given Equations (3) and (4), we can estimate the average power density:

W _(av)=½

[E×H*]  (5)

wherein

is the real component of these complex numbers and * is the complexconjugate.

Equation (5) suggests that power density drops with the square ofdistance. If the distance d between transmitting antenna and receivingantenna is reduced by one-half, then the average received power isincreased by a factor of four. This relationship between distance andpower is often referred to as the “Inverse Square Law.”

The relationship is particularly stark when a receiver is in closeproximity to a transmitter. FIG. 1 shows the expected average powerdensity according to Equation (5), wherein transmitting antennas A₁ andA₂ (FIG. 2) are separated by a fixed distance of one-half wavelength(λ/2), and a receiver is located a distance d₁ cm away from A₁, suchthat d₂=d₁+λ/2. Antenna A₁ transmits a data signal while antenna A₂transmits a jamming signal, such as a barrage-type jamming signal or atone-type jamming signal. In this example, each antenna A₁ and A₂transmits at equal magnitude. It is noted that the data in FIG. 1 isbased on a model of a 24 dBm signal transmitted using a WI-FI® protocolon channel 1's center frequency of 2.412 GHz, which has wavelengthλ≈12.5 cm. It is also noted that in this example, the spacing betweenantennas A₁ and A₂ was λ/2. Other spacings can be used, though a spacingof λ/2 is useful in inhibiting eavesdropping using a directionalantenna. The data depicted in FIG. 1 is simply an example.

It is seen in FIG. 1 that when a receiving antenna is very close to atransmitting antenna, it receives a significantly stronger signal than asignal from a transmitting antenna located only one-half wavelengthfarther away. In this case, when antenna A₁ (FIG. 2) is located at d₁=1cm, then d₂≈7.25 cm, that is, 7.25 times farther than d₁. Because thepower received is relative to the square of distance, even though bothtransmitting antennas are physically close to the receiving antenna, thesignal from antenna A₁ is roughly 50 times stronger than the signal fromantenna A₂. The difference in power between a signal sent from antennasA₁ and A₂ drops quickly as distance from the transmitting antennasincreases. When antenna A₁ is more than about 7 cm away from thereceiving, or target, antenna, the received signal strength from eachtransmitting antenna is virtually identical. A distant device,therefore, receives roughly equal-strength signals from both antennas.

When wireless devices are in close proximity to one another they enjoy aunique channel advantage over wireless devices located farther away.That channel superiority vanishes quickly as devices move apart.Data-jam apparatuses of the present disclosure use this channeladvantage between nearby devices to provide secure communications whiledenying a more distant adversary the ability to recover the data.

3. Signal Errors

The performance of wireless digital communication systems carrying datain the presence of noise (both natural and intentional) has been wellstudied and has produced analytical models that predict the number ofcommunication errors expected to occur given three factors: 1) datasignal strength, 2) noise intensity, and 3) modulation scheme. Thosemodels are used to calculate the theoretical error rates given thephysical arrangement of transmitting antennas and receiving antennasdescribed in Section 2, above, in which example an antenna of a targetdevice is located near a data antenna A₁ and one-half wavelength fartherfrom jamming antenna A₂. Section 5, below, presents results fromexperiments using real, COTS WI-FI® protocol devices to illustratereal-world usefulness of data-jam methodologies disclosed herein.

3.1 Data Signal Strength and Noise Intensity (WI-FI® Example)

The relationship between a signal and noise is captured by theSignal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR):

$\begin{matrix}{{SNR} = {\frac{P_{r}}{N_{0}B} = {\frac{E_{s}}{N_{0}BT_{s}} = \frac{E_{b}}{N_{0}BT_{b}}}}} & (6)\end{matrix}$

wherein P_(r) is the received power of the data signal, N₀ is the powerspectral density of the noise, B is the bandwidth, E_(s) is the energyper symbol, E_(b) is the energy per bit, T_(s) is the symbol time, andT_(b) is the bit time. For pulse-shaping systems such as a WI-FI® basedsystem wherein T_(s)=N/B, Equation (6) simplifies to SNR=E_(s)/(N₀N)where N is the number of samples per symbol.

In the presence of barrage noise jamming, where the jammer interferesacross the entire signal bandwidth (as opposed to tone jamming wherenoise is only transmitted on specific frequencies), the total powerspectral density of the noise becomes:

N _(t) =N ₀ +N _(j)  (7)

wherein N_(t) is the total noise power spectral density, N₀ is the powerspectral density of any background noise, and N_(j) is the powerspectral density of the barrage jamming. Accounting for noise providesthe Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR) where:

$\begin{matrix}{{{SIN}\; R} = {\frac{P}{( {N_{0} + N_{j}} )B} = \frac{P_{r}}{N_{t}B}}} & (8)\end{matrix}$

Equation (8) can be used to provide the SINR per symbol, γ_(s):

$\begin{matrix}{\gamma_{S} = {\frac{P_{r}T_{s}}{N_{t}BT_{s}} = {\frac{E_{s}}{N_{t}{BT}_{s}} = \frac{E_{s}}{N_{t}N}}}} & (9)\end{matrix}$

3.2 Example Modulation Schemes (WI-FI® Example)

IEEE 802.11a/g/n/ac uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing(OFDM) to send data symbols over several different subcarrierssimultaneously, resulting in higher data rates than serialsingle-channel communications. Speed can be further enhanced with thetype of modulation used on each subcarrier. In the WI-FI® modulation,the simplest modulation type is Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK),wherein each symbol represents one bit. More complex than BPSK,Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols represent two bits ofinformation. In addition, Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (MQAM) is themost complex WI-FI® modulation type where each symbol represents log₂(M)bits and M is 16, 64, or 256 (and possibly more in the future). Morecomplex modulation schemes increase the data rate because each symbolrepresents more bits. FIG. 2 shows these modulation types in aconstellation diagram where a symbol, representing one or more bits, isshown as a dot in the complex plane.

To send a symbol, a transmitter selects the complex number on theconstellation diagram representing the desired bit pattern, thenmodulates a cosine wave on a carrier frequency with the real componentof the complex number, and also modulates a sine wave on the samecarrier frequency with the imaginary component of the complex number. Inthis way the transmitter can send both the real and imaginary componentof the complex number simultaneously on a single radio frequency.Assuming an Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel, a receiverreceives the signal as:

y[t]=x[t]+n[t]  (10)

wherein y[t] is the received signal, x[t] is the transmitted signal, andn[t] is the noise on the channel at time t.

The receiver then determines the nearest symbol to y[t] on the complexplane. Because y[t] includes noise, it may not fall exactly on a symbol,so the receiver chooses the closest symbol and infers that symbol iswhat the transmitter sent. Using a more complex modulation increases thesusceptibility to noise because there are more possible symbols andsmaller amounts of noise can cause the receiver to misinterpret a symbolcorrupted by noise.

To compensate for noise, the WI-FI® protocol uses convolutional codingto create redundancy by adding duplicate bits to each transmission. Forexample, 1/2 coding means that each bit is duplicated, resulting in 2bits for every input bit. Coding redundancy reduces the overall datarate (e.g., 1/2 coding reduces the data rate by half), but can improvethroughput by increasing reliability, especially in noisy environments.

A modulation type combined with a coding scheme is known as a ModulationCoding Scheme (MCS). IEEE 802.11g can use one of eight differentschemes: BPSK 1/2, BPSK 3/4, QPSK 1/2, QPSK 3/4, 16QAM 1/2, 16QAM 3/4,64QAM 2/3, and 64QAM 3/4. 802.11n and 802.11ac can use these modulationschemes as well, but can also use more complex modulation schemes. InSection 5 below, however, experiments have shown that more complexschemes may not survive the jamming from antenna A₂, so the currentfocus in this example is on the foregoing eight modulation codingschemes.

3.3 Energy Per Bit

The chosen MCS influences the energy per bit because a symbol mayrepresent many bits, and each bit may be duplicated. Taking the energyper symbol from Equation (9) as a constant, the bit redundancy yieldsthe SINR per bit, γ_(b):

$\begin{matrix}{\gamma_{b} \approx \frac{\gamma_{s}}{R_{c}\log_{2}M}} & (11)\end{matrix}$

wherein log₂M is the number of bits per symbol and R_(c) is the codingrate (e.g., 1/2). There is a trade-off in Equation (11): as the numberof bits per symbol increases, the energy per data bit decreases, but asthe coding scheme produces more redundant bits, the energy per data bitincreases.

3.4 Estimating Errors

Assuming an AWGN channel between sender and receiver, that all symbolsin a modulation scheme are equally likely to be transmitted, and thatGray coding is used, so that one symbol error corresponds to one biterror (a conservative estimate, especially for complex modulationschemes), the probability of a symbol error, Ps, can be calculated.Others have given an excellent derivation of the error estimateequations shown in Table 1 where the Q function is

$\begin{matrix}{{Q(x)} = {\frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi}}{\int_{\lambda}^{\infty}{e^{- \frac{x^{2}}{2}}{dx}}}}} & (12)\end{matrix}$

Modulation M P_(s) BPSK  2 Q ({square root over (2γ_(b))}) QPSK  4 2Q({square root over (γ_(b))}) − Q² ({square root over (γ_(b))}) 16QAM 16$4{Q( \sqrt{\frac{4\gamma_{b}}{5}} )}$ 64QAM 64$4{Q( \sqrt{\frac{3\gamma_{b}}{7}} )}$

The Table immediately above indicates the probability of a symbol errordepends on the signal's power relative to noise and the modulation typechosen. Assuming Gray coding, the probability of a bit error, P_(b), canalso be estimated as

$\begin{matrix}{P_{b} \approx \frac{P_{s}}{\log_{2}M}} & (13)\end{matrix}$

In the next section, these estimates are used to predict the ability ofa WI-FI® device to successfully transmit data to nearby devices whiledenying more distant devices.

4. Theoretical Performance (WI-FI® Example)

Section 3, above, provided a mathematical underpinning to estimatetheoretical performance of a data-jam system of the present disclosure.In this section, those equations are used to model expected performanceof a data-jam system of the present disclosure, and in Section 5, below,results of experiments using COTS WI-FI® devices are described. For allexperiments and theoretical estimates the antennas A₁ and A₂ wereseparated by one-half wavelength, with d₂=d₁+λ/2, and arbitrarily choosethe WI-FI® devices' channel 1. Jamming phase and amplitude were modeledusing a normal Gaussian distribution with zero mean and unit standarddeviation, X˜

(μ=0, σ²=1).

The Table above shows that the key to estimating errors, regardless ofmodulation scheme, is the ratio between the energy per bit and theenergy in the noise. For the data-jam communications scheme of thepresent disclosure, that ratio is primarily driven by two factors: 1)the geometry between the target device and the sending device'santennas, and 2) the ratio of transmit power of the two antennas (thereis of course other noise in the environment; here it was modeled at −92dBm, but it typically has little impact on the error estimates).

4.1 Geometry

Geometry drives the ratio between signal and noise, as shown in FIG. 4.The received power of the data signal, P_(r), was estimated usingEquation (5) at distance d₁. The noise power was estimated similarly,but using the transmit power P₁ from jamming antenna A₂ at distance d₂.Assuming that antenna A₁ transmits data at the same strength thatantenna A₂ transmits jamming, due to redundancy in some modulationcoding schemes, when the target device is located near antenna A₁, theenergy per bit will be up to 70 times stronger than the jamming signal.That ratio is maximized when the antenna of the target device is locatedwhere d₁ is small and the antennas A₁ and A₂ are aligned so thatd₂=d₁+λ/2.

In some embodiments, one or both of a target device and a data-jamapparatus of the present disclosure can be adorned with an indicator,such as an arrow, light(s), graphical display, haptic device, and/oraural device, to reveal how to align the devices. If the antenna of thetarget device is not well aligned relative to the transmit antennas, theratio of signal strength to jamming will be reduced, resulting inincreased noise relative to the signal. This works to the advantage of adata-jam system of the present disclosure, because legitimate receiverscan be placed near the transmit antennas and easily aligned to maximized₂, leveraging the Inverse-Square Law, whereas more distant or lessgeometrically aligned devices will see a lower γ_(b), as shown in FIG. 4in the left-hand graph

4.2 Jamming Transmit Power

Another factor that can affect the ratio of energy per symbol to noiseis the transmit power of the data and jamming signals. The jammingtransmit power was modeled as P₁=P_(t)+δ dBm, where δ∈{0, 4}. In thefirst case the data and noise signal transmit power are equal; in thesecond case the jamming power is 4 dBm (2.5 times) higher than the datasignal. In this latter case, shown in FIG. 4 in the right-hand graph,the data-jam system relies even more heavily on the geometry andInverse-Square Law to ensure the receiver is able to recover the datasignal in the presence of more noise. If the antenna of a legitimatetarget device is placed near the data antenna, the received data signalcan still be almost 30 times stronger than the jamming signal.

FIG. 5 plots the theoretical probability of a symbol error, P_(s),calculated using the equations in the Table above, and the energy perbit to noise, γ_(b), when a tested data-jam device used each of theeight modulation schemes and the target is aligned with the transmitantennas were plotted. From those plots it was seen that symbolstransmitted with the simpler modulation types of BPSK and QPSK are morelikely to be received without error than the more complex MQAMmodulation schemes.

The WI-FI® protocol groups bits into frames for transmission. If a framecontains b bits, then the probability a frame is received without error,P_(f), is:

P _(f)=(1−P _(a))^(b/log) ² ^(M)  (14)

FIG. 6 shows a plot of probability, P_(f), assuming the frame contains amodest payload of b=1,024 bits. Frames are likely to be received withouterror for BPSK and QPSK when the target is close (less than about 5 cm),and the probability of receiving a frame without error becomes extremelylow at greater distances.

These estimates suggest that BPSK can be a good candidate to securelyand reliably transfer data to a device in close physical proximity inthe presence of jamming, while denying a more distant eavesdropper. Thisdistance limitation may also help mitigate innocent errors where data isunintentionally transferred to a device located farther away from themultiple-antenna device.

4.3 Data Transmit Power

Another possible approach to securely transferring data between twonearby devices would be to lower the data transmit power and hope that amore distant eavesdropper would not be able to receive the weak signal.Reducing a typical WI-FI® device's transmit power of approximately 24dBm to 4 dBm would reduce the transmit power by a factor of 100.Intuitively, that approach appears to be an easy way to reduce anadversary's range by a factor of 100. Because the signal attenuates withthe square of distance, however, that is not the case. If the minimumsignal strength at which a device can receive a signal, P_(r), is known,and assuming the device is in the far field, the maximum distance wherea transmitted signal is recoverable can be derived by rewriting Equation(2) as:

$\begin{matrix}{d = \frac{\lambda}{4\; \pi \sqrt{\frac{P_{r}}{P_{t}G_{t}G_{r}}}}} & (15)\end{matrix}$

wherein P_(t) is the transmit power, G_(t) and G_(r) are the gain of thetransmitter and receiver respectively.

For example, if a system is able to recover a signal at P_(r)=−73 dBm,and no obstacles attenuate a 24 dBm signal, then by Equation (15), thereceived power will reach the device's minimum after the signal travelsapproximately 700 m. Dropping the transmit power to 4 dBm, however,yields a distance of roughly 70 m, only 10 times less than whentransmitted at high power, not the 100 times reduction in range that onemight have expected.

These calculations suggest that to avoid detection by an adversarylocated less than 1 m away, the transmit power will need to be reducedto an extremely low level. In theory, reducing the transmit power to −50dBm would result in a −73 dBm received signal at 20 cm. While thesecalculations suggest the possibility that extremely low power could behelpful, there are two important considerations. First, an adversary canuse a high-gain directional antenna to boost his receive range. A 9 dBiantenna would increase G_(r), making the adversary's effective rangeroughly one-half meter. Second, environmental noise is likely to createsignificant issues for the legitimate target device at these levels.

Even though reducing transmit power alone does not provide assurancethat a signal will not be recovered by a distant device, loweringtransmit power still makes an eavesdropping adversary's task moredifficult. In the next section an experiment withcommercial-off-the-shelf WI-FT® devices and 4 dBm data transmit powerare described as an example.

5. Example Experimentation (WI-FI® Example)

To test the effectiveness of COTS Wi-Fi devices to receive a signal inthe presence of jamming, four devices with electronics similar to thosefound in embedded devices were tested: a Panda Ultra Wireless N USBAdapter, an Edimax EW-7811Un, an external Alfa Networks AWUS036H, and aninternal Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300 connected to a PlanarInverted-F antenna.

On the transmit side, two calibrated Ettus Research N210 UniversalSoftware Radio Peripheral (USRP) radios were used, each connected to aquarter-wavelength dipole antenna to simulate a multiple-antenna device.One USRP transmitted data using the GNU Radio 802.11a/g/p transceivercode developed by others, while the second USRP transmitted barragejamming across the WI-FI® based 20 MHz channel during frametransmission. This arrangement allowed precise control of the signalstrength and coordination of the timing of both the data and the jammingsignals. The antennas were separated by one-half wavelength in keepingwith the example discussed above. All experiments were conducted onWI-FI® channel 1 and used 4 dBm to transmit power for data, and either 4dBm or 8 dBm transmit power for jamming.

The ability of the four COTS devices to receive frames containing a1,024-bit payload sent from the USRP was first tested without thepresence of jamming. In this test, 1,000 WI-FI® frames were transmittedfor each of the eight modulation schemes discussed in the previoussection above, with an interval of 100 ms between frames. To minimizeoutside interference, these receivers were tested in a remote indoorfacility where there were no other WI-FI® transmitters within at least100 yards. The commercial devices were found to performed similarly; andfor brevity, the average results across all four devices are presentedherein.

FIG. 7 shows the average Frame Reception Ratio (FRR)—the number offrames received by the WI-FI® device, divided by the number of framestransmitted, for all four receivers where d₁ ranged from 1 to 12 cm. Asshown in FIG. 7, the simpler modulation schemes were received withsignificantly higher probability than the more complex modulationschemes. Unsurprisingly, while theory suggests frame reception shouldhave been near 100 percent when the devices are in such close proximity,real-life performance was well below predicted.

Next, the ability of the WI-FI® devices to receive frames in thepresence of jamming was tested. FIG. 8 shows the average FRR across allfour devices when jamming signal strength was equal to the data signalstrength (i.e., P_(j)=P_(t)), normalized to the FRR when no jamming waspresent (we refer to this ratio as NFRR). As shown in FIG. 8, BPSK 1/2,BPSK 3/4, and QPSK 1/2 performed relatively well when d₁ was less than 5cm. More complex modulation schemes were received with low probabilityat close range, and all modulation schemes performed poorly at longerranges. This is by design, as a purpose of a data-jam system of thepresent disclosure is to transfer data to nearby devices, but not allowreception by more distant devices.

We then tested a data-jam apparatuses ability to transfer data to nearbydevices when the jamming signal was 2.5 times stronger than the datasignal (i.e., P_(j)=P_(t)+4 dBm). FIG. 9 shows the results when d₁ranged from 1 to 12 cm. It was seen that BPSK has some ability totransfer data in this environment up to 3 cm, but all other schemes anddistances had virtually no reception. In all cases after 6 cm, no frameswere received using any modulation scheme.

Unsurprisingly, it was seen that BPSK 1/2 performs much better in thepresence of noise than other modulation schemes. In FIG. 10 the BPSK 1/2performance was compared with the theoretical performance discussed inSection 4, above, and shown in FIG. 6. It was seen that actualperformance follows the theoretical performance, but lags somewhat. Inthe real world, data recovery on radio interfaces are never as perfectas theory assumes. For example, if a receiver misses the frame preamble,it will not attempt to decode the rest of the frame, whereas theory doesnot account for these types of issues. Despite these issues, theoryelucidates the real world. The performance of BPSK 1/2 when the jammingsignal is 2.5 times stronger than the data signal was also examined.FIG. 11 shows the results that the real world lags theory.

In summary, it was seen that the experimental data-jam devices were ableto use BPSK 1/2 to provide communication in the presence of jamming whenthe data and jamming signals are of equal strength and the devices werecloser than about 5 cm. Data could not be recovered by devices at longerranges.

6. Security

In Section 5, above, it was seen that the experimental data-jam deviceswere able to provide communication while devices are in close physicalproximity. This section discusses an adversary attempting to eavesdropthe data transfer or inject frames. Here, it is assumed that theadversary has full knowledge of how data-jam works and is able to employmore sophisticated equipment than COTS devices.

6.1 Eavesdropping

An adversary might attempt to eavesdrop on the data transferred betweendata-jam devices. Assuming the adversary is located more than about 7 cmaway, the strength of the data and jamming signal the adversary receiveswill be roughly equal. An adversary might then attempt to separate thedata and jamming signals with a directional antenna or with signalprocessing and MIMO antennas.

6.1.1 Directional Antennas (Example Antenna Spacing of γ/2)

A directional antenna with a narrow main lobe pointed precisely at thedata antenna, but excluding the jamming antenna, would allow theadversary to receive the data signal only. In one example, data-jamapparatus's antennas, however, are only one-half wavelength apart andbecause the main lobe expands with distance, the lobe will encompassboth antennas if the adversary is located a reasonable distance away oris in-line with the data-jam device's antennas. For example, as shown inFIG. 12, an adversary located 1 m away and bore-sighted on one of thedata-jam apparatus's antennas would need to have a one-half beam widthof α=tan⁻¹ (6.25/100)≈3.5 degrees to avoid receiving a signal from thedata-jam apparatus's jamming antenna.

A 0.5 m dish antenna operating at WI-FI® frequencies would have aone-half beam width of 8.1 degrees. This beam width is far wider thanthe width required for an adversary to receive from the data-jamapparatus's data antenna if the adversary is located only 1 m away. Ifthe adversary is located more than 1 m, it would need an even smallerbeam width than 3.5 degrees. Furthermore, because at least one of thedata-jam devices is typically mobile, the exact orientation and locationof devices is difficult to predict a priori.

6.1.2 Signal Processing and MIMO Antennas

Alternatively, an adversary might try sophisticated signal-processingtechniques to separate the data from the jamming signal. Researchershave shown that, provided the adversary is located at a distance muchgreater than the separation between transmit antennas (in this example,antennas A₁ and A₂), and the two transmit antennas are within one-halfwavelength of each other, the channel matrix has Rank 1 and the signalscannot be separated.

As an illustration, in FIG. 13 a transmitter with antennas T_(x1), andT_(x2) are separated by Δ_(t) and oriented with angle φ_(t) relative toa receiver with antennas R_(x1) and R_(x2) separated by Δ_(r) andoriented with angle φ_(r) relative to the transmitter. T_(x1) and R_(x1)are separated by distance d. If the transmitter has n_(t) antennas andthe receiver has n_(r) antennas, then the channel between receiveantenna r and transmit antenna t can be represented by the followingwhen the receiver is located a distance significantly greater than thespread between transmit antennas:

h _(rt) =a√{square root over (n _(r) n _(t))}(e ^(−j2πd/λ))(e^(j2π(t−1)Δ) ^(t) ^(cos ϕt))×(e ^(−j2π(r−1)Δ) ^(r) ^(cos ϕr))  Eq. (16)

wherein α is an attenuation factor, r=1 . . . n_(r), and t=1 . . .n_(t).

For the 2×2 MIMO arrangement depicted in FIG. 5, the resulting channelusing Equation (16) is

$\begin{matrix}{H = {a\; 2\; e^{- \frac{j\; 2\; \pi \; d}{\lambda}} \times \begin{bmatrix}1 & e^{{- j}\; 2\; \pi \; \Delta_{r}{co}\; s\; \varphi_{r}} \\e^{{- j}\; 2\; \pi \; \Delta_{t}{co}\; s\; \varphi_{t}} & {e^{{- j}\; 2\; \pi \; \Delta_{t}{co}\; s\; \varphi_{r}}e^{{- j}\; 2\; \pi \; \Delta_{t}{co}\; s\; \varphi_{t}}}\end{bmatrix}}} & {{Eq}.\mspace{11mu} (17)}\end{matrix}$

It is seen that the second column is the same as the first column,except that the second column is multiplied by a factor of e^(−j2πΔ)^(r) ^(cos ϕ) ^(r) . This demonstrates the channel matrix H has Rank 1,holds even if the receiver has more than two antennas, and indicatessignals cannot be separated by the receiver.

Other researchers, however, exploited the fact that in the equationsabove a receiver must be located at a significantly greater distancethan the transmit antenna spread to ensure the channel matrix hasRank 1. They showed that by using MIMO receive antennas at relativelyclose range, signals can be separated in some cases. Their analysisevaluated an adversary attempting to separate a 400 MHz data signal sentby one antenna using simple Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) from a jammingsignal sent by a second antenna separated by 15 cm or more. They showedthat it is theoretically possible to extract a signal with less than a20% bit error rate at ranges around two meters. In practice, however,they found that (even with precise alignment of the antennas) multipathsignals often defeated separation attempts. Furthermore, separating themore complex modulation schemes of the WI-FI® protocol at higherfrequencies and smaller antenna spreads is more difficult thanseparating simple low-frequency FSK signals with large antennaseparation. Those researchers did not demonstrate the capability toseparate more complex WI-FI® signals from jamming.

6.2 Frame Injection

An adversary may attempt to inject their own frames while data istransferred between data-jam devices. In that case, the adversary'ssignal would have to exceed the jamming signal strength. Because thejamming signal is located in close proximity to the receiving device,the Inverse-Square Law helps the data-jam system defend against such anattack. In an example, even though a data-jam apparatus transmits at 4dBm, an adversary located only 2 m away using a 9 dBi omnidirectionalantenna would need to roughly double the maximum transmit power limitsset by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to exceed the data-jamapparatus's signal strength.

7. Bidirectional Communications

The above discusses unidirectional communication—data moves from amultiple-antenna device to a target device that has one antenna. Here,bidirectional communication is discussed.

If the target device also has two antennas, bidirectional communicationis possible simply by reversing roles. If one device only has oneantenna, however, secure bidirectional communications is still possible.In this case, the single-antenna device can alert the multiple-antennadevice that it has data to send, and the multiple-antenna deviceinitiates jamming on one antenna while listening on its other antenna.The single-antenna device can then monitor the noise floor. When thenoise floor rises above a preset threshold, strong jamming is in placeand it then transmits its data. In this way, a single-antenna device canbidirectionally communicate with a multiple-antenna device.

This approach, however, has some limitations. If the adversary is ableto raise the noise floor above a threshold, the adversary may be able totrick the single-antenna device. The adversary could time his jammingsuch that after reaching the threshold on the single-antenna device, theadversary stops jamming just as the single-antenna device transmits. Inthis case the data is transmitted without jamming coverage and could beintercepted. To counter this attack, however, the single-antenna devicecould wait a random amount of time after the noise threshold is reachedbefore sending the data. This way if the adversary stopped jamming, thesingle-antenna device would detect it and not transmit.

As noted in Section 6, above, an adversary would need to transmit agreat deal of power to raise the noise floor to a level comparable to anearby data-jam apparatus. It is possible, however, that a formidableadversary with a highly directional antenna and extremely powerfultransmitter may be able to raise the noise floor sufficiently.

8. Example Embodiments

FIG. 14 illustrates a scenario 1400 in which a data-jam apparatus 1404made in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is securelycommunicating with a target device 1408. Data-jam apparatus 1404 may be,for example, embodied in any one of the devices noted above in theIntroduction section. Similarly, target device 1408 may be, for example,any one of the devices noted above in the Introduction section fortarget devices. Generally, there are no limitations on the devices inwhich data-jam apparatus 1404 may be embodied except for the ability tocommunicate wirelessly with target device 1408 and the need to have atleast a pair each of transmitters and corresponding respective antenna.For simplicity, the present example shows data-jam apparatus 1404 ashaving two transmitters 1412(1) and 1412(2) and corresponding respectiveantennas 1416(1) and 1416(2); receivers and receiving antennas are notshown. In this example, transmitter 1412(1) is designated as the “datatransmitter”, because it transmits a data signal 1412(1)DS that containsdata 1418 to be transmitted to target device 1408. Correspondingly,antenna 1416(1) is designated as the “data antenna”. Transmitter 1412(2)is designated as the “jamming transmitter”, because it transmits ajamming signal 1412(2)JS that contains radio interference to betransmitted to target device 1408. Correspondingly, antenna 1416(2) isdesignated as the “jamming antenna”.

Also in this example, each of data and jamming transmitters 1412(1) and1412(2) is controlled by one or more processors (collectivelyillustrated and referred to hereinafter as processor 1420) via anysuitable wired or wireless connection. Processor 1420 may be anysuitable processor, such as a microprocessor, an application specificintegrated circuit, part of a system on a chip, or a field-programmablegate array, among other architectures. Processor 1420 is configured toexecute suitable machine-executable instructions 1424 for controllingdata and jamming transmitters 1412(1) and 1412(2) and any otherfunctionalities of data-jam apparatus 1404. Machine-executableinstructions 1424 are stored in one or more memories (collectivelyillustrated and referred to hereinafter as memory 1428), which may beany type(s) of suitable machine memory, such as cache, RAM, ROM, PROM,EPROM, and/or EEPROM, among others. Machine memory can also be anothertype of machine memory, such as a static or removable storage disk,static or removable solid-state memory, and/or any other type ofpersistent hardware-based memory. Fundamentally, there is no limitationon the type(s) of memory other than it be embodied in hardware.Machine-executable instructions 1424 compose the software (e.g.,firmware) of data-jam apparatus 1404.

Each of data and jamming transmitters 1412(1) and 1412(2) is operativelyconfigured to transmit wireless signals using any suitablecommunications protocol, such as any one of the WI-FI®, BLUETOOTH®, andZIGBEE® protocols, among others, that may, for example, operate underany suitable standard, such as any IEEE 802.11 or IEEE 802.15 standard,among others. Such transmitters (e.g., radios) are well-known in theart; consequently, transmitters 1412(1) and 1412(2) can be, if desired,embodied in COTS radios. Correspondingly, target device 1408 includes atleast one receiver 1432 having a “target” antenna 1436. Receiver 1432 isoperatively configured to receive wireless signals using the samecommunications protocol that data and jamming transmitters 1412(1) and1412(2), respectively, use.

Target device 1408 also includes one or more processors (collectivelyillustrated and referred to hereinafter as processor 1440) that executesmachine-executable instructions 1444 for recovering data transmitted bydata-jam apparatus 1404 and received by receiver 1432.Machine-executable instructions 1444 are stored in one or more memories(collectively illustrated and referred to hereinafter as memory 1448),which may be any suitable type(s) of memory, such as cache, RAM, ROM,PROM, EPROM, and/or EEPROM, among others. Fundamentally, there is nolimitation on the type(s) of memory other than it be embodied inhardware. Machine-executable instructions 1444 compose the software(e.g., firmware) of target device 1408.

As described above, a fundamental operating principle of a data-jamapparatus of the present disclosure, such as data-jam apparatus 1404 ofFIG. 14, is that data and jamming antennas 1416(1) and 1416(2) should bespaced from one another by a fixed spacing, A_(s), that will allowtarget antenna 1436 to receive signals of meaningfully different powersfrom the two antennas of the data-jam apparatus. Setting fixed spacingA_(s) to about one-half the wavelength (λ/2) of the frequency band atwhich data-jam apparatus 1404 transmits can be a good choice for anumber of reasons, including the fact that this spacing can make itdifficult for eavesdroppers using directional antennas to recover datafrom the data signal, here, 1412(1)DS, in the presence of noise from thejamming signal, here 1412(2)JS. However, other spacings both larger thanor smaller than λ/2 can be used, as desired, as long as the spacingprovides a sufficient differential in power between data signal1412(1)DS and jamming signal 1412(2)JS.

As also described above, a fundamental operating principle of a data-jamscenario of the present disclosure, such as scenario 1400 of FIG. 14, isthat a target antenna of a target device, here, target antenna 1436 oftarget device 1408, is located proximate to the data antenna and distalfrom the jamming antenna, here, data antenna 1416(1) and jamming antenna1416(2), respectively. Consequently, target antenna 1436 and dataantenna 1416(1) must be at or within a communications distance, D_(c),that is equal to or less than a maximum secure-communications distance,D_(cmax), and the antenna spacing axis 1452, along which data andjamming antennas 1416(1) and 1416(2) are spaced, must be orientedproperly relative to the target antenna so that the communicationsdistance D_(c) is within the maximum secure-communications distanceD_(cmax). The orientation of antenna spacing axis 1452 and the maximumsecure-communications distance D_(cmax) may be combined to define asecure-communications envelope 1456. Once target antenna 1436 is withinsecure-communications envelope 1456, secure communication of data canoccur between data-jam apparatus 1404 and target device 1408.

When data antenna 1416(1) is spaced from jamming antenna 1416(2) byabout λ/2 of the frequency band that data and jamming transmitters1412(1) and 1412(2) transmit on, maximum communications distanceD_(cmax) is dependent on that frequency. In some embodiments for any ofthe aspects described herein, the frequency utilized is from about 0.9to 6.0 GHz (i.e., one wavelength is about 33 cm to about 5 cm and λ/2 isabout 16.5 cm to about 2.5 cm). For example, the frequency may be about2.4 GHz (i.e., one wavelength is about 12.5 cm and λ/2 is about 6.25cm). As another example, the frequency may be about 3.6 GHz (i.e., onewavelength is about 8.3 cm and λ/2 is about 4.15 cm). As still anotherexample, the frequency may be about 5.0 GHz (i.e., one wavelength isabout 6.0 cm and λ/2 is about 3 cm).

Consequently, in some embodiments, λ/2, and the spacing of data antenna1416(1) and jamming antenna 1416(2) may be from about 2 cm to about 20cm, from about 3 cm to about 10 cm, such as about 3 cm, about 4 cm,about 5 cm, about 6 cm, about 7 cm, about 8 cm, about 9 cm, or about 10cm. In some embodiments, λ/2 may be from about 2.8 cm to about 3.2 cm.In some embodiments, λ/2 may be about 3.0 cm. In some embodiments, λ/2may be from about 4.0 cm to about 4.5 cm. In some embodiments, λ/2 maybe about 4.2 cm. In some embodiments, λ/2 may be from about 6.0 cm toabout 6.5 cm. In some such embodiments, λ/2 may be about 6.25 cm.

Correspondingly, in some embodiments, maximum secure-communicationsdistance D_(cmax) between data antenna 1416(1) and target antenna 1436along antenna spacing axis 1452 is from about 1 cm to about 10 cm. Insome embodiments, maximum secure-communications distance D_(cmax)between data antenna 1416(1) and target antenna 1436 along antennaspacing axis 1452 is about 1 cm, about 2 cm, about 3 cm, about 4 cm, orabout 5 cm. It is noted that these values of maximumsecure-communications distance D_(cmax) diminish as target antenna 1436deviates from being along antenna spacing axis 1452.

In some embodiments, a data-jam apparatus of the present disclosure,such as data-jam apparatus 1404 of FIG. 14, can include an indication ofproper orientation of the antenna spacing axis, here, antenna spacingaxis 1452, relative to a target device, such as target device 1408 toalert a user where the target device needs to be so that its targetantenna is properly located relative to the data and jamming antennas ofthe data-jam apparatus. For example, an exterior surface 1460 ofdata-jam apparatus 1404 may optionally include a visual indicator 1464that indicates to the user where to place target device 1408 relative tothe data-jam apparatus.

In some embodiments, data-jam apparatus may include functionality fordetermining the distance target device 1408 (target antenna 1436) isfrom data antenna 1416(1). For example, data-jam apparatus may include areceived signal strength indicators (RSSIs) associated with data andjamming antennas 1416(1) and 1416(2) can be used to determine thelocation of target antenna 1436 relative to the data antenna. However,other technologies can be used to determine the distance.

Correspondingly, data-jam apparatus 1404 may optionally be provided withone or more electronic visual indicators 1468 (e.g., LEDs, electronicdisplay, lighted arrows, etc.), one or more aural indicators 1472 (e.g.,speaker, beeper, buzzer, etc.), and/or one or haptic indicator (e.g.,vibrator, etc.) to indicate whether or not target antenna 1436 is withinsecure-communications envelope 1456. Depending on the sophistication ofelectronic visual indicator 1468, it may guide a user to move, as neededfor the particular situation, one or the other or both of data-jamapparatus 1404 and target device 1408 so that target antenna 1436 iswithin secure-communications envelope 1456. For example, if electronicvisual indicator 1468 is a display screen, machine-executableinstructions 1424 may include machine-executable instructions fordisplaying a realtime graphical depiction of data-jam apparatus 1404 andtarget device 1408 and the locations and/or orientation relative to oneanother. Such a display screen may also or alternatively give verbalinstructions guiding the user to properly locate and/or orient data-jamapparatus 1404 and target device 1408 relative to one another. If auralindicator 1472 is provided, it may be made sophisticated enough toprovide oral instructions to a user on how to properly locate and/ororient data-jam apparatus 1404 and target device 1408 relative to oneanother. It is noted that a target device, such as target device 1408,can also or alternatively be provided with the same or similar means fordetermining when target antenna 1436 is properly withinsecure-communications envelope 1456 and/or for guiding a user to causethe target antenna to be properly within the secure-communicationsenvelope.

In some embodiments, data-jam apparatus 1404 can be configured toinitiate data-jam operations, including the simultaneous transmission ofdata signal 1412(1)DS and jamming signal 1412(2)JS, based on targetantenna 1436 being within secure-communications envelope 1456. Suchinitiation can be performed either partially or fully automatically.Regarding partial automation, data-jam operations may be initiated by auser selecting a soft or hard control on either data-jam apparatus 1404(e.g., control 1480(1)) or target device 1408 (e.g., control 1480(2))that sends an initiate-data-jam signal or instruction to processor 1420,which the processor then receives and processes to initiate the data-jamoperations. A user would be instructed (e.g., a priori) to select thecontrol when they are aware that target antenna 1436 is withinsecure-communications envelope 1456 and orientation of antenna spacingaxis 1452 is proper. Regarding full automation, data-jam operations maybe initiated by either data-jam apparatus 1404 or target device 1408automatically determining when target antenna 1436 is withinsecure-communications envelope 1456 and/or orientation of antennaspacing axis 1452 is proper. In this case, processor 1420 effectivelyreceives an initiate-data-jam instruction when the processor hasdetermined that target antenna 1436 is within secure-communicationsenvelope 1456 and/or orientation of antenna spacing axis 1452 is proper.

In response to processor 1420 receiving a data-jam-initiationinstruction or signal, the processor executes machine-executableinstructions contained in machine-executable instructions 1424 thatcause data transmitter 1412(1) to transmit data signal 1412(2)DScontaining data 1418, for example, from memory 1428 and/or from a datasource (not shown) off board of data-jam apparatus 1404. As discussedabove in the Introduction section, data 1418 may be any sort of data,from data collected by data-jam apparatus 1404, information for settingup a secure communications between the data-jam apparatus and targetdevice and/or another device (not shown). Fundamentally, there is nolimitation on data 1418 transmitted. Also in response to processor 1420receiving a data-jam-initiation instruction or signal, the processorexecutes machine-executable instructions contained in machine-executableinstructions 1424 that cause jamming transmitter 1412(2) to transmitjamming signal 1412(2)JS simultaneously with data transmitter 1412(1)transmitting data signal 1412(1)DS.

As discussed above in the Introduction section, jamming signal 1412(1)JSmay be any suitable type of jamming signal, such as a barrage-typejamming signal or a tone-type jamming signal. As also noted above,jamming transmitter 1412(2) may transmit jamming signal 1412(2)JScontinuously or intermittently while data transmitter 1412(1) istransmitting data signal 1412(1)DS. Jamming transmitter 1412(2) maytransmit jamming signal 1412(2)JS at the same power as data transmitter1412(1) transmits data signal 1412(1)DS. In other embodiments, jammingtransmitter 1412(2) may transmit jamming signal 1412(2)JS at a powerhigher or lower than the power at which data transmitter 1412(1)transmits data signal 1412(1)DS. However, one or both of datarecoverability by target device 1408 and protection from eavesdroppingmay be compromised using differing powers as between data-jam apparatus1404 and the target device.

It is recognized that increasing operating frequencies of radios forlocal-area network communications may continue to increase and that, asthe frequencies increase, spacings between multiple antennas willdecrease if approximately λ/2 wavelength spacing is maintained.Decreasing antenna spacing leads to a decreased secure communicationsenvelope 1456, and at some point it may become impractical orimpossible, depending on where the relevant antennas are located withthe various devices, to physically place the devices close enough to oneanother. As a solution and in the context of FIG. 14, data-jam apparatus1404 may include a third antenna 1416(3) spaced farther from dataantenna 1416(1) than jamming antenna 1416(2) is spaced from the dataantenna. During normal higher-frequency operation, data-jam apparatus1404 may use the more closely spaced antennas 1416(1) and 1416(2).However, when alerted to the close proximity of target device 1408,machine-executable instructions 1424 may control processor 1420 toactivate a third transmitter 1412(3) to provide a jamming signal1412(3)JS when data transmitter 1412(1) is transmitting data signal1412(1)DS. In addition, machine-executable instructions may also lowerthe frequency of transmission of data and third transmitters 1412(1) and1412(3), respectively, to a lower frequency, such as a frequency havinga wavelength that is twice the distance between data and third antennas1416(1) and 1416(3). The larger spacing between data antenna 1416(1) andthird antenna 1416(3) allows for a larger maximum communicationsdistance D_(cmax) that can be practically achieved.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example method 1500 of wirelessly transmittingdata, such as data 1418, to a target device, such as target device 1408of FIG. 14. Method 1500 may be performed by a suitable data-jamapparatus of the present disclosure, such as data-jam apparatus 1404 ofFIG. 14. For convenience, method 1500 is described in conjunction withscenario 1400 of FIG. 14. However, method 1500 can be performed in otherscenarios and by a data-jam apparatus other than data-jam apparatus 1404and/or a target device other than target device 1408.

Referring now to FIG. 15, and also to FIG. 14 for referencing1400-series element identifiers, method 1500 may begin at optional block1505 by determining that the location of target antenna 1436 of targetdevice 1408 is within secure-communications envelope 1456. As describedabove in connection with scenario 1400 of FIG. 14, such determining maybe performed automatically using RSSI levels measured by one or theother of data-jam apparatus 1404 and target device 1408 or othersuitable method and utilizing suitable machine-executable instructions.Optional block 1505 may also be performed manually by a user visually orotherwise determining that target antenna 1436 (or target device 1408,more generally) is within secure-communications envelope 1456.Correspondingly, at optional block 1510, an indication that targetantenna 1436 is within secure-communications envelope 1456 may begenerated. In a fully automated embodiment, either data-jam apparatus1404 or target device 1408 may automatically generate such indicationbased on automatically determining that target antenna 1436 is withinsecure-communications envelope 1456. In a partially automatedembodiment, a user can select hard or soft control 1480(1) or 1480(2) onone or the other of data-jam apparatus 1404 and target device 1408 whenthe user has determined that target antenna 1436 is withinsecure-communications envelope 1456. In response, either data-jamapparatus 1404 or target device 1408 may generate a within-envelopeindication.

It is noted that data-jam apparatus 1404 need not be responsive to anindication that target antenna 1436 is within secure-communicationsenvelope 1457. Rather, data-jam apparatus 1404 may be responsive to anindication generated in another manner. For example, data-jam apparatus1404 may include machine-executable instructions, for example, as partof machine-executable instructions 1424, that cause jamming transmitter1412(2) to transmit jamming signal 1412(2)JS intermittently, regardlessof the data-jam apparatus being aware of the presence of a targetdevice. Such intermittent transmission of jamming signal 1412(2)JS maybe, for example, periodic, random, or otherwise intermittent. In thisexample, the indication may be embodied in machine-executableinstructions that causes processor 1420 to start the secure data-jamcommunications process, including causing jamming transmitter 1412(2) totransmit jamming signal 1412(2)JS. As another example, an indication tostart the secure data-jam communications process may be based on asensor, such as an environmental sensor (e.g., temperature, light,sound, etc.) or other device being triggered, such that the securedata-jam communications process should be performed.

In each of the immediately preceding scenarios, it is recognized that atarget device (antenna), such as target device 1408 (antenna 1436) maynot be present within secure-communications envelope 1456. In such acase, data-jam apparatus 1404 may include machine-executableinstructions, for example, as part of machine-executable instructions1424, that send a notification to the target device that the targetdevice needs to be moved closer to data antenna 1416(1) of the data-jamapparatus.

At block 1515, an indication, such as the indication from optional block1510 or from another source, indicating that data-jam apparatus 1404 isto begin the secure data-jam communications process is received. Atblock 1520, in response to receiving an indication that data-jamapparatus 1404 is to begin the secure data-jam communications process,data transmitter 1412(1) transmits data signal 1412(1)DS containing data1418. Correspondingly, at block 1525, in response to receiving theindication that data-jam apparatus 1404 is to begin the secure data-jamcommunications process, jamming transmitter 1412(2) transmits jammingsignal 1412(2)JS at least partially simultaneously with data transmitter1412(1) transmitting data signal 1412(1)DS so as to provide the jammingneeded to keep remote wireless devices from recovering data 1418 fromdata signal 1412(1)DS. It is noted that the transmission of jammingsignal 1412(2)JS need not start simultaneously with the transmission ofdata signal 1412(1)DS. For example, data-jam apparatus 1404 may begintransmitting jamming signal 1412(2)JS before starting to transmit datasignal 1412(1)DS. Processor 1420 may control the operation of data andjamming transmitters 1412(1) and 1412(2) so that they perform theirrequisite functionalities in effecting the secure data-jamcommunications of the present disclosure. As will be understood by thoseskilled in the art, various blocks of method 1500 may be executed bysuitable machine-executable instructions, which may be part ofmachine-executable instructions 1424 stored in memory 1428 of data-jamapparatus 1404, while some or all of optional blocks 1505 and 1510 maybe executed by suitable machine-executable instructions that are part ofmachine-executable instructions 1444 stored in memory 1448 of targetdevice 1408.

As noted above in the Introduction section, there are many scenarios inwhich both a data-jam apparatus and a target device are practicallyimmovable so that they can be brought into close enough proximity toeffect secure data-jam communications. In such scenarios, embodying adata-jam apparatus of the present disclosure in a mobile device such asa handheld wand can provide the mobility needed. FIG. 16 illustrates anexample handheld data-jam wand 1600 that embodies data-jam apparatus1404 of FIG. 14. In this example, data-jam wand 1600 includes a grippingregion 1604 and a data-antenna extension 1608 having a target end 1612distal from the gripping region. Gripping region 1604 may be anysuitable size that allows a human hand to hold data-jam wand 1600. Forexample, gripping region 1604 may be large enough for gripping by anentire hand or only large enough to accommodate gripping between onefinger and a thumb. Data-antenna region 1608 contains data antenna1416(1), preferably, but not necessarily, such that the data antenna isas close to target end 1612 of data-jam wand 1600 that a user places inclose-enough proximity as target antenna 1616 of a target device 1620 toeffect secure data-jam communications. In this example, target antenna1616 is located inside of target device 1620, and the target device hasindicia 1624 indicating where the user is to place target end 1612 ofdata-jam wand 1600 to effect secure data-jam communications.

Jamming antenna 1416(2) of data-jam apparatus 1404 may be located at anysuitable location within data-jam wand 1600 to provide the requisiteantenna spacing. Depending on the requisite spacing and the design ofdata-jam wand 1600, jamming antenna 1416(2) may be located at a base-end1628 of data-antenna extension 1608 or within grip region 1604.Depending on the physical size of data-jam wand 1600, data-antennaextension 1608 may be eliminated, for example, by locating data antenna1416(1) at one end of gripping region 1604 and jamming antenna 1416(2)at the opposing end of the gripping region.

Data-jam wand 1600 may include any or all of the functionalities ofdata-jam apparatus 1404 as described above in conjunction with FIG. 14and/or any other functionalities described in previous sections. Inaddition, data-jam wand 1600 may optionally include a port 1632 forcreating a secure wired connection between the data-jam wand and a thirddevice (not shown), such as a wireless router or computer, among manyothers. Port 1632 can be for any suitable data-communications connector(not shown), such as an Ethernet connector, a USB connector, a FireWireconnector, among many others. Using port 1632 and correspondingconnector and connecting the connector to the third device, data-jamwand 1600 can function as a go-between device for securely deliveringdata from the third device to target device 1620. Such data can be anysort of data, including information that allows target device 1620 andthe third device to establish a long-range secure wirelesscommunications link. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciatethat data-jam wand 1600 can be embodied in many forms other than theform illustrated in FIG. 16.

The foregoing has been a detailed description of illustrativeembodiments of the invention. It is noted that in the presentspecification and claims appended hereto, conjunctive language such asis used in the phrases “at least one of X, Y and Z” and “one or more ofX, Y, and Z,” unless specifically stated or indicated otherwise, shallbe taken to mean that each item in the conjunctive list can be presentin any number exclusive of every other item in the list or in any numberin combination with any or all other item(s) in the conjunctive list,each of which may also be present in any number. Applying this generalrule, the conjunctive phrases in the foregoing examples in which theconjunctive list consists of X, Y, and Z shall each encompass: one ormore of X; one or more of Y; one or more of Z; one or more of X and oneor more of Y; one or more of Y and one or more of Z; one or more of Xand one or more of Z; and one or more of X, one or more of Y and one ormore of Z.

Various modifications and additions can be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of this invention. Features of each of the variousembodiments described above may be combined with features of otherdescribed embodiments as appropriate in order to provide a multiplicityof feature combinations in associated new embodiments. Furthermore,while the foregoing describes a number of separate embodiments, what hasbeen described herein is merely illustrative of the application of theprinciples of the present invention. Additionally, although particularmethods herein may be illustrated and/or described as being performed ina specific order, the ordering is highly variable within ordinary skillto achieve aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, thisdescription is meant to be taken only by way of example, and not tootherwise limit the scope of this invention.

Exemplary embodiments have been disclosed above and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. It will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes, omissions and additions may be made to that whichis specifically disclosed herein without departing from the spirit andscope of the present invention.

1. An apparatus for wirelessly transmitting data to a target device, theapparatus comprising: a first antenna; a second antenna positioned afirst fixed spacing from the first antenna; a first transmitter inoperative communication with the first antenna; a second transmitter inoperative communication with the second antenna; at least one processorin operative communication with each of the first transmitter and thesecond transmitter; and a memory containing machine-executableinstructions for controlling each of the first and second transmitters,wherein the machine-executable instructions include instructions forcontrolling the at least one processor so as to: cause the firsttransmitter to transmit via the first antenna a data signal containingthe data; and cause the second transmitter to transmit via the secondantenna a jamming signal while the first transmitter is transmitting thedata signal.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of thefirst and second transmitters transmit a signal at a wavelength, λ, andthe first fixed spacing is about λ/2.
 3. The apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein each of the first and second transmitters transmit asignal at a wavelength, λ, and the first fixed spacing is greater thanλ/2.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the firstand second transmitters transmit a signal at a wavelength, λ, and thefirst fixed spacing is less than λ/2.
 5. The apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the first transmitter transmits the data signal at afirst power and the second transmitter transmits the jamming signal at asecond power equal to the first power.
 6. The apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the first transmitter transmits the data signal at afirst power and the second transmitter transmits the jamming signal at asecond power higher than the first power.
 7. The apparatus according toclaim 6, wherein the second power is up to 2.5 times higher than thefirst power.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the firsttransmitter transmits the data signal at a first power and the secondtransmitter transmits the jamming signal at a second power lower thanthe first power.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thefirst transmitter transmits the data signal during a time period, andthe machine-executable instructions are configured to cause the secondtransmitter to transmit the jamming signal continuously during that timeperiod.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the firsttransmitter transmits the data signal during a time period, and themachine-executable instructions are configured to cause the secondtransmitter to transmit the jamming signal intermittently during thetime period.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the firsttransmitter transmits the data signal during a time period, and themachine-executable instructions are configured to cause the secondtransmitter to begin transmitting the jamming signal prior to the timeperiod.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the targetdevice includes at least one target antenna and transmits a targetsignal; the apparatus further comprising a notification system; and themachine-executable instructions are configured to: determine when thetarget antenna is within a predetermined communications distance fromthe first antenna based on the apparatus receiving the target signal;and when the target antenna is within the predetermined communicationsdistance, notify a user via the notification system that the targetantenna is within the predetermined communications distance.
 13. Theapparatus according to claim 12, wherein the machine-executableinstructions are further configured to begin transmitting the data basedon the target antenna being within the predetermined communicationsdistance.
 14. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the targetdevice includes at least one target antenna and transmits a targetsignal; the apparatus further comprising a notification system; and themachine-executable instructions are configured to: determine a locationof the target antenna relative to the first antenna based on theapparatus receiving the target signal; and notify a user via thenotification system that the location is within a predeterminedcommunications envelope.
 15. The apparatus according to claim 14,wherein the machine-executable instructions are further configured toguide the user on how to move at least one of the apparatus and thetarget device so that the target device is within the predeterminedcommunications envelope.
 16. The apparatus according to claim 14,wherein the machine-executable instructions are further configured tobegin transmitting the data based on the location of the target antennabeing within the predetermined communications envelope.
 17. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the target device includes atleast one target antenna and transmits a target signal; the apparatushas an antenna axis extending through each of the first and secondantennas, the apparatus further comprising a notification system; andthe machine-executable instructions are configured to: determine anorientation of the antenna axis relative to the first antenna based onthe apparatus receiving the target signal; and notify a user via thenotification system that the orientation of the antenna axis is within apredetermined envelope of communications orientations.
 18. The apparatusaccording to claim 17, wherein the machine-executable instructions arefurther configured to guide the user on how to move the apparatus sothat orientation of the antenna axis is within the predeterminedenvelope of communications orientations.
 19. The apparatus according toclaim 17, wherein the machine-executable instructions are furtherconfigured to begin transmitting the data based on the orientation ofthe antenna axis being within the predetermined envelope ofcommunications orientations.
 20. The apparatus according to claim 17,wherein the machine-executable instructions are further configured to:when each of the first receiver and the second receiver are receivingthe target signal, determine when the target antenna is within apredetermined communications distance from the first antenna; and whenthe target antenna is within the predetermined communications distance,notify a user via the notification system that the target antenna iswithin the predetermined communications distance.
 21. The apparatusaccording to claim 20, wherein the machine-executable instructions arefurther configured to begin transmitting the data based on the targetantenna being within the predetermined communications distance and basedon the orientation of the antenna axis being within the predeterminedenvelope of communications orientations.
 22. The apparatus according toclaim 1, further comprising: a third antenna positioned a second fixedspacing from the first antenna, wherein the second fixed spacing isgreater than the first fixed spacing; a third transmitter in operativecommunication with the third antenna; a first receiver in operativecommunication with the first antenna; a second receiver in operativecommunication with the second antenna; and wherein: the target devicetransmits a target signal; the first and second transmitter transmit ata first frequency using, respectively, the first and second antennas;and the machine-executable instructions are configured to: determinewhether or not the target device is within the communications envelopeof the apparatus based on the target signal as received by each of thefirst and second receivers; and if the target device is withincommunications envelope, cause each of the first and third transmittersto transmit at a second frequency lower than the first frequency of,respectively, the data signal and the jamming signal.
 23. A method ofwirelessly transmitting data to a target device having a target antenna,the method comprising: receiving an indication to begin asecure-communications process; in response to receiving the indicationto begin the secure-communications process: transmitting a data signalcontaining the data via a first antenna located proximate to the targetantenna; and simultaneously with the transmitting of the data to thetarget device, transmitting a jamming signal via a second antennalocated distal from the target antenna. 24.-40. (canceled)
 41. A memorycontaining machine-executable instructions for performing a method ofwirelessly transmitting data to a target device having a target antenna,the method comprising: receiving an indication to begin asecure-communications process; in response to receiving the indicationto begin the secure-communications process: transmitting a data signalcontaining the data via a first antenna located proximate to the targetantenna; and simultaneously with the transmitting of the data to thetarget device, transmitting a jamming signal via a second antennalocated distal from the target antenna. 42.-100. (canceled)